The Wings of Signal
by ProFan
Summary: This is the story of a Faunus and his life at Signal Academy. It tells his story of being in a world full of hate, and those who must cope with it. Even in harsh trials, no one is ever alone. Takes place before the events of the actual show.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Welcome to Signal

You know it always seems like I'd rather sleep in and waste my time on weekdays. But hey I guess I can't have everything my way. Besides, today was no ordinary day, this will be the very first time I attend Signal Academy. My parents sent me and my sister, Harley, over to Vale to get a "better education" than we were getting at our old school.

I'm already sixteen, and my sister is seventeen, one year away from attending Beacon. My folks think that we can handle ourselves by now and that we should get ready for the real world. Honestly I'm all up for the challenge. If the fighters at Signal are as good as they say they are then I'm up for the challenge.

I woke up to find myself in a room I'd have to get used to. I didn't really care about living in apartments that much but Harley on the other hand, well, let's just say that she hasn't made a good impression on the neighbors yet.

I stared into my mirror to find a sloppy, scraggly looking boy with short brown hair and chocolate brown eyes to match. "That can't be me," I chuckled lightly to myself. Of course that wasn't the only thing that was messy, my feathers were sticking out all over the place from being covered in the sheets. We're bird Faunus, and proud of it! I stretched my light brown wings out, ready for what this day had to throw at me.

I figured for my first day I'll just go with the basics. I had a thin white turtleneck on covered by a long-sleeve jersey vest with the collar popped up. I strapped on a black belt that supported a pair of brown cargo pants and even darker boots. I grabbed my signature gray goggles and black fingerless gloves and strapped them on.

I rummaged through some of the boxes I "forgot" to unpack to find my weapon. When I was young, my parents tried to teach me how to use a lance. I'd practice day and night to try and get better and better, but there was one problem: it's not easy fighting with one arm. When I was only three I nearly died at the hands of a Beowolf. My dad saved me, or, at least most of me. An arm for a head I always say. By the time I was nine, my parents built me a mechanical left arm as a substitute. But, I soon realized that I'm a much better flier than I am with a lance, so it was about time I started working on my own little project. Two years of hard work went into making a weapon that could be attached to my wings. My weapons of choice are a pair of blade feathers that come out of the armor on my wings. With a swift flap, anything that stands in front of me will be skewered by a cloud of feathery kunai. I'd just have to modify it every time my wings grew.

By the looks of it I'm all done getting ready. Since it's the first day of school I really didn't need any textbooks or school supplies to take with me. My sister called from downstairs to hurry up and head out. I rushed over to check the clock, school starts in ten minutes! I nearly killed myself just trying to get downstairs and head out the door. I turned the corner only to run into Harley.

Harley was slightly taller than me, but only by a little. She has steel gray hair tied up in a ponytail along with rusty red eyes. Her usual attire was a red tank top with an ash colored jacket that had multiple patches and stitches on it from all of her fights in the past. She wore dark loose jeans and crimson red sneakers. Her real trade mark were family wings, a deep charcoal color.

"Ow, what's the rush?" she asked. Sis was always in a stressed out mood, mainly in the morning. "Sorry, gonna be late, I'll see you later!" I yelled out the front door. I turned back to see her wave off as I ran down the hallway waking up some of the neighbors. Now if I was any normal person I would take the front door, but why not have fun. I headed up the stairs until I got to the top floor where access to the roof. Luckily the janitor let me have a little fun and gave me a spare key to the roof If I ever wanted to do skydiving. Without even giving it a second thought, I ran to the edge of the building and jumped! I gave it a few seconds before I opened up my wings and glided like a kite.

I had to hand it to the city, It sure did make you want to wake up in the morning more often. The sun crept over the tip of the mountain as the cool morning air woke me up. The people below looked like little rapier wasps colonizing throughout the streets of Vale. Just a few blocks away was Signal, and the sound of the first bell echoed in the sky. With a few more flaps, I was there in no time.

"Arnold Harpia?" asked the woman at the front office. I gestured over to her to let her know it was me. "Third year student transferring over from Auron academy at Vacuo." I simply nodded. "Well it looks like you picked the right time to come over, now you can experience the first day of school here at Signal." That last part made me raise an eyebrow. What was so special about the first day here? "Welcome to Signal, Arnold."

AN: Well I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of my new story. I'll try and update it along with my other stories as often as I can so don't you worry. Please leave a review as you please and I'll see you next time.

Trivia:

The name "Arnold" is an old French and German name for "Eagle ruler," the bird that Arnold is allusive to is a Golden Eagle. Harley on the other hand is the allusion of the Harpy Eagle, an eagle native to north America. Harpia is the higher classification of Harpy Eagles.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Velvet Feathers

This school is amazing! The halls were nice and spacious, as if they were meant just for me and my wings the glide through. The walls were painted a bright burgundy with stone pillars rising from the dark chocolate floor. The ceiling had stained glass letting in a variety of different colors from the sun. The glass design was of a knight stabbing a Nevermore in the chest with a sword. And to think that this was only the main hallway, I still have to see the rest of the school.

I opened up the large doors of the hallway to find myself now outside. The courtyard was just as nice as the inside, with lush green grass and a huge red tree in the center, the kinds that you would only find in certain forests. There was one thing that felt strange, however: where is everyone?

I've been here for at least ten minutes and yet I haven't found a single person. I hope I didn't miss any info in the office. I scanned the courtyard in hopes of finding someone to talk to. So far, nothing. That is of course, until I find someone lying in the grass near the tree. I walked casually until I could get a better look at her. She's a Faunus, a rabbit to be exact. She wore a black form-fitting with yellow armor on places such as her shoulder and waist. Covering her black top was a small brown blouse with matching shorts.

I tried walking up to her in hopes of simply getting attention from the book she was reading. Nothing. Desperate, I waved my hand behind her book. She looked up at me like she was about to have a heart attack! "Oh, I'm so sorry, I'll move if you want!" she said seemingly scared. "What no!" I panicked. "I was just...looking to talk to someone. I'm new, and I can't really find anyone to hang out with." Her face went from startled to rosy red almost instantly. I hope she didn't take thing the wrong way.

She got up, whipping the red leaves off her shorts, and put the book under right arm, offering her left hand for a friendly shake. She didn't even notice my "left arm" until I made the same gesture. She looked a bit shocked at it, but happily shook my hand anyways.

I walked with her for a few minutes making small talk as we headed to the auditorium. Apparently we were supposed to go to there for a school assembly. I'm guessing that lady in the office forgot to tell me about, either that or it was her idea of some joke for the newbie.

As we were walking I couldn't help but notice that she was staring at my arm from time to time with a look of concern. "Hey," I said, getting her attention. "Don't worry, this happened to me years ago." She gave me a light smile. "Say," she said. "I never got your name." She spoke with a soft voice and accent. "The name's Arnold, yours?" "That's a wonderful name, I'm Velvet." And she called my name wonderful, that was perfect name for her! "Arnold just sounds like a name you would give a stereotypical nerd," I said. "Wanna trade names?" She chuckled a little at the joke.

We arrived at the auditorium doors as we could hear people chattering inside. I opened up the door to a large room filled with what appeared to be the entire school. I stepped inside only to have a hand stop me by the shoulder. Velvet pulled my out of the room where she hid behind the door, pointing towards a group of people. They were four boys who all looked like the same age as me. They were, teasing another Faunus. That's were most of the noise was coming from, a bunch of people surrounded them, laughing. It didn't take much to see why she didn't want to go in.

"If you go in there, it will only make things worse than they are...for you." she said with an even softer voice, one that seemed to break through sound of people in the auditorium. It wasn't just about her, she doesn't want me getting bullied either. I gave her a tight hug, telling her it would be okay. She stood awkwardly, but quickly returned the hug with tears in her eyes. "If you want, we can go back to the courtyard for now." I offered. She returned with a nod. Through her tears, she gave a little smile, and walked back with me.

"Hey, Arnold." she said. "Thanks for everything."


End file.
